Description

One of "Time" magazine's 100 all-time best English-language novels.
Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous you ll recognize it immediately."show more

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Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison--a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he's a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about Infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous...you'll recognize it immediately.show more

About Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson issues from a clan of rootless, itinerant hardscience and engineering professors (mostly Pac-10, Big 10, and Big 8 with the occasional wild strain of Ivy). He began his higher education as a physics major, then switched to geography when it appeared that this would enable him to scam more free time on his university s mainframe computer. When he graduated and discovered, to his perplexity, that there were no jobs for inexperienced physicist-geographers, he began to look into alternative pursuits such as working on cars, unimaginably stupid agricultural labor, and writing novels. His first novel, "The Big U," was published in 1984 and vanished without a trace. His second novel, Zodiac: An Eco-Thriller, came out in 1988 and quickly developed a cult following among water-pollution-control engineers. It was also enjoyed, though rarely bought, by many radical environmentalists. Snow Crash was written in the years 1988 through 1991 as the author listened to a great deal of loud, relentless, depressing music.
Mr. Stephenson now resides in a comfortable home in the western hemisphere and spends all of his time trying to retrofit an office into its generally dark, unlevel, and asbestos-laden basement so that he can attempt to write more novels. Despite the tremendous amounts of time he devotes to writing, playing with computers, listening to speed metal, Rollerblading, and pounding nails, he is a flawless husband, parent, neighbor, and all-around human being."show more

Review quote

&quot; Stephenson has not stepped, he has vaulted onto the literary stage with this novel.&quot;
--"Los Angeles Reader"
&quot; A cross between Neuromancer and Thomas Pynchon's Vineland. This is no mere hyperbole.&quot;
--"San Francisco Bay Guardian"
&quot; Fast-forward free-style mall mythology for the 21st century.&quot;
--William Gibson
&quot; Brilliantly realized...Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow.&quot;
--"The New York Times Book Review"
Look for other Bantam Spectra novels by Neal Stephenson:
The Diamond Age
&quot; (Stephenson) has gotten even better. The Diamond Age envisions the next century as brilliantly as Snow Crash did the day after tomorrow.&quot;
--"Newsweek"
&quot; The Diamond Age establishes Neal Stephenson as a powerful voice for the cyber age....At once whimsical, satirical, and cautionary.&quot;
--"USA Today"
Zodiac: An Eco-Thriller
&quot; (Stephenson) captures the nuance and the rhythm of the new world so perfectly that one almost thinks that it is already here.&quot;
--"The Washington Post"show more

Review Text

"Stephenson has not stepped, he has vaulted onto the literary stage with this novel." - Los Angeles Reader
"[ Snow Crash is] a cross between Neuromancer and Thomas Pynchon's Vineland . This is no mere hyperbole." - The San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Fast-forward free-style mall mythology for the twenty-first century." -William Gibson
"Brilliantly realized . . . Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow." -The New York Times Book Reviewshow more

Customer reviews

"...Stephenson's world-building is fantastic, and I had to keep reminding myself that this was published back in the early '90s, because it feels like it could have been written more recently. I'm not sure if Snow Crash is the result of pure genius, or a lot of research, or both (probably both), but the world Stephenson creates for this book includes enough realistic elements that it feels like a very plausible future, and I found it very interesting to get into...Even when there are breaks from the action, I still wouldn't exactly call it a "lull." It took me a long time to actually finish this book, because school kind of took over my life for a while this past semester, but even after a month or two, I was able to pick this up and remembered everything that had been going on without having to flip back and refresh my memory. Some books, you know you would have to do that, but I was too into this one to forget any of the details, and I think that is very telling of the ability Stephenson has to create a world and a story and characters that a reader can become truly invested in."
For full review, please visit me at Here Be Bookwyrms on Blogger:
http://herebebookwyrms.blogspot.com/2012/12/snow-crash.htmlshow more